Growing Up
by kuzion
Summary: Form K has graduated and disbanded. Mitchell and his girlfriend, Leslie, have moved into a flat together and are starting their lives as grown ups. But Mitchell's finding it harder than he's letting on.


That last day of school was nerve racking for the both of us. Of course, we'd already moved into the flat and put all our stuff in it and had jobs lined up, but still, it felt like we were really on our own now.

I think it was the fact of leaving school behind, with all the safety it held for us. The routines and the people and the balance of it all. So whereas we'd already sort of started our lives away from it, it felt like we were cutting our last tie of our dependence. We were finally on our own.

Of course, Chantelle and Stephen were sobbing their eyes out. I was crying a bit too, but only when I had a moment to myself. Jing was trying to keep a straight face, just like she always had done, but there was a sad little smile that crept up on her every now and again. Rem Dogg and Mitchell still managed to be fucking around and taking the piss, no surprises there.

I was still floating around from person to person, group to group, saying goodbye and blinking a lot. No matter how much of a dump Abbey Grove was, it was still a sort of home for me, which is pretty pathetic. I learnt next to nothing and most of the teachers were fucking twats. But they were familiar, I guess.

"Alright?" Mitchell said as he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my torso.

"Yeah," I said, placing my arms over his. He rested his chin on my shoulder and we swayed back and forth a little as we watched Stephen and Chantelle continued to stutter out disconnected memories they'd had at the school.

One of their most common comments was "I'm gonna miss everyone so much", before bursting into tears again. I guess we all were, but surprisingly everyone was sort of pairing up. Chantelle and Stephen were lodging together somewhere, Joe, Jing and Rem Dogg had formed a shockingly well matched trio and were staying in a flat Jing's parents had bought years ago, and finally there was Mitchell and I in our tiny poky little place.

Of course, we were all eighteen now, so it wasn't truly goodbye. We were going to a pub up the road after the graduation ceremony for a half-celebratory-half-farewell drink. Well, there was still Joe who was only seventeen, but we figured if enough of us were eighteen they wouldn't check him for ID.

And of course we'd all still see each other before and after our exams, but it was still scary having to think we'd _never_ have a class together ever again. No more Class Wars or listening to Mitchell and Rem Dogg making 'your mum' jokes at the back of the class. No more wondering what Jing just said to Dickers in Mandarin or messing with Fraser. It was the end of an era, but only two of us were able to admit we were going to miss it, with the rest of us desperately trying to shrug it off.

So we braved our way through the day and the graduation ceremony. Then we burst out of the doors cheering like it was summertime on _High School Musical 2_. I think I even heard Stephen singing it a little.

Seeing as I was the only one with my full fucking licence, I was granted the honour of driving the school van to the pub, (looking back on it now this doesn't seem like such a great image for the school but I guess Fraser was emotionally compromised at the time). So we all piled in, with Mitchell riding shot gun and everyone climbing back and forth over the seats and Rem Dogg directly behind me strapped firmly in his seat.

"Is it alright if Frank meets us there?" Stephen poked his head through between mine and Mitchell's seats, with his thumb poised above his phone.

I slowed down to let a pedestrian over the crossing. "Uh yeah sure that's fine."

He squealed as he pecked me on the cheek. "Thank you!" he disappeared again and I laughed.

Mitchell leaned over the centre console and rested his elbow on it, reaching his other hand across to squeeze my knee as we came to a stop at a set of traffic lights. I turned my head to look at him and he pressed his lips to mine, just one of those brief but sort of lingering kisses that only last until the light goes green and someone behind you starts tooting their horn.

Mitchell broke away. "Come on Les, get a move on."

I rolled my eyes and swatted him on the shoulder before driving on over the intersection. "Fuck you, mate."

There were a round of "Oooohhhhhh"s from the back of the van but everyone knew not to take either of us seriously.

Another couple of minutes and I was pulling into a parallel park on a side street next to the pub. Stephen ran instantly to Frank and gave him a big hug, followed closely by Chantelle who obviously wasn't thinking straight and hugged him too. Jing and Joe hopped out together and Jing lit up a cigarette, offering one to Joe but only out of politeness.

Mitchell made his way to the back door of the van and pulled Rem Dogg's chair out while I opened the door and he unbuckled himself. Mitchell unfolded the chair and positioned it so that it was facing the same way as the van, then stepped up onto the foot perch and put one of Remmie's arms around his shoulder. I did the same and together we hefted him out of the van and into his wheelchair. He then promptly wheeled himself around the corner to the pub.

I clicked the button to lock the van and put the keys in my purse. Mitchell hooked his arm around my back as we walked to the front entrance, kissing the side of my head. I put an arm around his waist and played with the hem of his jacket in my fingers.

"Bit weird this, innit?" he said as we walked in and looked around for where everyone had gone.

"Yeah a bit," I replied, noticing he had tightened his grip on me just slightly.

And it was in the way that it definitely wasn't. Everyone had calmed down a bit and was acting like it was just another Friday evening at the pub. Mitchell and Rem Dogg were larking about, Stephen was gushing to Frank who was incredibly _still_ not used to being out. Chantelle was also gushing but to Jing now, who was smiling and trying her best to gush back, (she knew Chantelle had a need to be accepted and wanted, which was hard now that Stephen had Frank). Joe was nervously sipping his beer, still worried he would get caught even after months of coming down with us, and waiting for Alfie. It was all almost normal, even though we knew we wouldn't have a time like that for a while.

Alfie got there with Miss Gulliver, (I don't think anyone was quite used to that yet, I definitely wasn't and Chantelle could only just stand it), and it was all still so normal.

But then of course Miss Gulliver suggested going around and doing a little toast each and things weren't quite so normal again.

Frank sat it out because he had graduated the year before, (god Stephen was a state that day), and Alfie started off.

"Look guys," he said, standing up and holding his pint. "I know I'm a shit teacher, and some of you are shit students, but I've really enjoyed teaching you. You really pulled through and I know you'll do well in your exams."

"Yeah, no thanks to you," Mitchell said, then laughed with Rem Dogg. I just rolled my eyes and leant into him as he replaced his arm around me.

"Right, thank you Mitchell," Alfie said, then turned to his left away from us. "Stephen?"

"Guys, honestly," Stephen clasped his hands together as he stood. "I love you all so much and I'm gonna miss you like crazy," he started tearing up again and fanned his face while Chantelle passed him a napkin. "Thanks babe. I'm gonna try to stay in touch with all of you."

He sat back down and leant into Chantelle as Frank patted him awkwardly on the shoulder. Classic.

Once he had calmed down enough to sit up on his own, Chantelle stood up. "I really don't know what to say. I hate goodbyes and I'll ever forget any of you," she sat down with a wink at Alfie. Typical.

Jing stood up, pushing her glasses up her nose and folding her arms across her chest. "You were tolerable for the most part," she looked Alfie dead in the eyes. "You're still a shit teacher though," he smiled and looked down. "But I suppose this school wasn't all bad. At least there wasn't much competition."

She sat down and everyone sat in a sort of befuddled haze as we tried to figure out if it was a compliment or insult, (the jury's still out).

Then Joe stood up, with his hair only just having grown back from the summer term in fourth form, although it was still pretty spikey. "You guys were all really nice to me and weren't really mean to me," I noticed that Frank shifted awkwardly in his seat. "And I didn't mind too many of the things you made me do, Alfie," he had that little smile he always had that made your heart melt. "Though some of them were pretty awful," we all chuckled a little. "I'm going to miss all of you, but hopefully I'll see you every now and again."

He sat down with that same little smile and Jing half patted half rubbed his shoulder.

Then I stood up. "Well I mean I haven't really been here as long as you lot, but I don't know, you kinda mean a lot to me I guess," Chantelle clutched her hand to her chest and Stephen grabbed her other one. "It's gonna be fucking weird not seeing you all the time, although that might turn out to be a bit of a blessing," the laughed a little and I smiled, feeling a tingling in my eyes. "But whatever, we're all going to end up in the same resting home probably," they laughed again. "Apart from maybe Jing who'll go off and get a mansion in some science-rich country," she smiled triumphantly. "So I guess I'll see you all there or in hell."

Mitchell gave me a quick kiss as I sat down and he stood up. "Joe mate, if I ever said mean things to you, it was just banter. Best thing you can do is grow up, make loads of buns, get a proper fit bird, and make me look like a muppet," he gave Joe a fist bump then turned to Alfie. "Dickers. I used to think there were two types of teachers; the arseholes, and the tragedies, but you're an exception. If I saw you in the street, I wouldn't shout obscenities at you, I'd go for a pint with you. And tell you, you was a twat to your face," Alfie smiled and made some comment about it being beautiful. "Chantelle, Stephen, you're both gonna go fucking far, alright? Don't let anyone tell you different," the two of them clung to each other and Frank slid down in his chair a little. "Jing, dear Jing. Make sure you buy me something nice when you get rich and famous," he clapped a hand on my back. "Me and the missus could do with a nicer house than what we've got now," everyone laughed and I tried not to blush too hard. "Finally, Les. I fucking love you, but I don't need to use this as an excuse to tell you, and you already fucking know it."

He sat down and I put my hand on the back of his neck, pulling him down for a kiss. Chantelle and Stephen "aw"ed at us while the others pretended to be disgusted, but we just laughed into each other before breaking apart.

Rem Dogg of course couldn't stand, but he used the table to prop himself up a little.

"All I'm saying is one: you're all actually pretty funny when you wanna be. Two," he leant forward so he could use one hand to point at Mitchell. "Mitchell's dating a girl with the same name as me. Gay."

We all laughed and Mitchell punched him in the arm, which only made Remmie punch him back.

Miss Gulliver stood up and held her wine glass up. "You've all come very far in the past few years, and I couldn't be more proud of you. Good luck for the future, I know you'll all do wonderfully."

We all said "Cheers" and clinked our glasses over the middle of the table.

The rest of the night was basically reminiscing and laughing and taking the piss before everyone's rides started getting there. In the end it was just Mitchell and I getting back in the van to take it to the school, then getting into my shitty little car and making our way back to our flat, just twenty minutes away.


End file.
